The invention described herein relates to intermediate compounds that are useful in the synthesis of carbapenems. Carbapenems are antibiotics having a broad antibacterial spectrum, which includes gram positive, gram negative and anaerobic microorganisms.
The carbapenems in which the naphthosultams of the present invention are useful contain a naphthosultam ring system in the side chain which is attached to the carbapenem nucleus at position two. Examples of carbapenems which are substituted with a naphthosultam-containing side chain at position two are found in U.S. application Ser. No. 60/016,184 filed on Apr. 24, 1996, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The naphthosultam platform is attached to the carbapenem nucleus directly or through a linking moiety, such as a sulfur atom, a methylene group or a higher alkylene group.
Also attached to the naphthosultam platform may be one or more substituent groups. The naphthosultam produced is an active pharmacophore when appropriately coupled to a carbapenem.